Communicator
A communicator, or personal receiver, was a hand-held communication device used by many species for person-to-person, person-to-ship, inter-ship communications. Communicators usually transmitted on subspace frequencies. Communicators were used by Starfleet landing parties and away teams; occasionally, communicators were used in situations where normal intra-ship communications were inaccessible (or inadvisable), during the 22nd and 23rd centuries. ( , et al.) Employing a flip-top design, a member of Starfleet spoke directly into the device to give commands and speak with other personnel. ( , et al.) In some cases, these communicators served purposes beyond basic communication. For example, communicators were often used to allow transporter locks for beaming, thus acting as homing transponders. When used in tandem, two communicators could produce a sonic disruption by using sound beams to create a sympathetic vibration in an unstable object, such as a cliff face. Kirk and Spock used such a technique to ward off a party of angry Capellans on Capella IV in 2267. ( ) By the 24th century, these communication devices were integrated into the standard uniform badges and became known as combadges. Users no longer had to speak directly into the communicator, but rather could activate and deactivate them with the touch of a finger. The combadge came into general use by 2344. ( ) Late-24th century communicators were composed of a crystalline composite of silicon, beryllium, carbon-70, and gold. ( ) The combadges were also designed to self-activate after their casing was destroyed to aid in the rescue of victims. ( ) When accessing a computer, the communicator of the person at the terminal logged in the user information, thereby making it possible to trace back who accessed the computer. ( ) Other species also possessed similar communicator devices. ( ; ) Gallery of communicator styles File:Starfleet communicator, 2150s.jpg|Starfleet communicator, 2150s File:Starfleet communicator, 2254.jpg|Starfleet communicator, 2254 File:Starfleet communicator, 2260s.jpg|Starfleet communicator, 2260s File:Starfleet communicator, 2270s.jpg|Starfleet wrist-communicator, 2270s File:Starfleet communicator, 2285.jpg|Starfleet communicator, 2285 File:Starfleet communicator, 2280s.jpg|Starfleet communicator, 2285 through 2287 File:Combadge, 2340s.jpg|Starfleet insignia that was retrofitted as a combadge in the 2340s File:Combadge, 2360s.jpg|Starfleet combadge, 2348 through 2370 File:Starfleet combadge, 2370s.jpg|Starfleet combadges, 2370s File:Andorian Communicator.jpg|Andorian communicator, 2154 File:Terrorist communicator.jpg|Communicator used by Arkarians, 2369 File:Bajoran combadge.jpg|Bajoran communicator, 2360s-2370s File:Eminian communicator.jpg|Eminian communicator, 2267 File:Mazarite communicator.jpg|Mazarite communicator, 2152 File:Metron communicator.jpg|Metron communicator, 2267 File:Klingon communicator, 2260s.jpg|Klingon communicator, 2268 File:Klingon communicator, 2280s.jpg|Klingon communicator, 2280s Background information The communicator was originally known as a "telecommunicator". In the series outline Star Trek is..., the concept was proposed as follows: :We establish a "telecommunicator" device early in the series, little more complicated than a small transistor radio carried in a pocket. A simple "two-way scrambler", it appears to be converting all spoken language into English. To this end, the story outline for , the first Star Trek pilot episode, commonly refers to the communicator as a "telecommunicator" and describes it as "a simple language translator device." (The Making of Star Trek, p. 51) Among the items which were sold off on the ''It's A Wrap!'' sale and auction on eBay was a 22nd century communicator circuit board from the episode , and a Klingon communicator, used in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Dr. , inventor of the modern mobile phone, credits the TOS communicator as being his inspiration for the technology. http://www.editinternational.com/read.php?id 4810edf3a83f8 cs:Komunikátor de:Kommunikator fr:Communicateur nl:Communicator Category:Communications technology